Walking in the woods and biting fish.

Yesterday we did some shopping, had a qiuck bite at The Man in the Moon, and then went for a walk in the woods. We had not walked in these woods for a long time, and everything was looking wintery and rather colourless, and we were saying how nice it will look soon when all the trees are decked in leaves again, and we saw this bright patch of crocus, the only flowers in the woods.















In the evening we were watching something on TV and I decided to get some oranges to eat, although it is a hazardous thing to do sitting on a cream sofa. Usually I peel fruit and pass some to Mas, who trustingly eats it, while his mind is otherwise engaged.
Last night I thought we should eat a whole orange each, so I passed him one. I began peeling mine, then Mas said he needed a knife. I replied "bite it " (to start it off) "Bite it!" He exclaimed aghast, staring at it in horror, it was as if I had passed him a live fish and told him to bite it. Immediately he realized how it had sounded, and we both had a really good laugh at such a small incident. I guess you had to be there!

Garlic and vampires

Yesterday I was notified that my pictures had not been selected by the Mall Gallery for their annual exhibition.
Having considered various options at length, and with my ears intact, I did the next best thing and had my favourite sandwhich for lunch. This is guacomle with about four cloves of garlic crushed into it; I knew I would not want to talk to anyone for a while!
I finished another picture, and watched an old film with Mas, then went to bed in the certain knowledge that whatever else happenend I would not be attacked during the night by Vampires.

St. Alban's market and lunch at Sazio's

We set off this morning to go to St.Albans to get shopping from the market. It was a bright day, and as usual the market was bustling with shoppers. We did a little window shopping, and bought a few toys, and fruit and vegetables.

St Albans market has been held on Wednesdays and Saturdays since Saxon times, it was run by the monastry, as recorded in 1287. After the dissolution of the monastries in 1539 the rights to hold a market were transferred to the Mayor and burgesses by King Edward VI in 1553, and it has carried on till present times.

We had lunch at an Italian restaurant called SAZIO (Italian for satisfied), we had a really nice meal there; I think they must have a new cook now.

While we were eating I was reminded of my mother. She was a good but plain cook (unlike my aunt Kay who used to exotically grate nutmeg and lemon zest into rice puddings). When I was young we hardly ever ate in a restaurant, but she would like to have a cake and pot of tea sometimes in tea shops. Once we were in Heath Street, Hampstead, and noticed a very smart Italian restaurant which had just opened; my mum decided we should try it, and we went in and ordered tomato soup to start with. The soup arrived, it was rather thin with herbs chopped into it. My mother tasted it, and was extemely disdainful, complaining to the waiter that she had never had such horrible soup, and we left. The problem was that it was not Heinz tomato soup, which was the only 'real' tomato soup in the world.





















St Alban's Cathedral

Deer and danger.

Yesterday after doing lots of chores I decided to go for a walk, and find the wood near Stanmore with the deer in it that I had seen when walking with Jana. Eventually I found it, and several people were around walking their dogs. I was surprised how far I had walked, as it had seemed no distance at all walking and talking with Jana.

When I returned home Mas said that he had a narrow escape when driving. Mas is a very careful driver, but as he was heading uphill an approaching car skidded out of control and turned around, and would have hit him if there had not been a post in the way. He returned to the wrecked car, and the lady who had been driving it was not hurt, but said that her car steering seemed to lock. There were two dogs in the car, and the one in front seemed shocked, but luckily the driver was not.

We thankfully had a quiet evening.

Le diner de cons or idiot's dinner.

Yesterday was bright and sunny, and Mas and I went out early to get shopping. Robert came over as planned, but sadly Tania was not able to come over as well. We had a drink, lots of chats and dinner. We were all feeling a bit tired, and watched one of my favourite films that I thought Robert would like as well; a funny well written French farce (talk about shooting yourself in the foot!). Afterwards we watched some more TV until we became sleepy and had a coffee before Robert went home.

Annual exhibition of watercolour paintings at the Mall Gallery.

Mas and I took four pictures down to town on the tube, this was not easy as they were framed, heavy and different sizes. I have entered them for the annual exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, and now will have my fingers permanently crossed for two weeks until the selection committee has decided which of all the different entries to show.

After Mas and I had taken the paintings in, we walked to Piccadily and had lunch at The Stockpot, off Leicester Square. It is a cheap and cheerfull place, and we sat next to a young French couple and got warm, as it is cold today, before returning home on the tube again.

Here are two recent efforts.

Watercolour and Drawings Fair

Some of my paintings have been taken to this art fair by The Linda Blackstone Gallery which seems like a great honour. I was filling my bird feeder when a robin almost flew onto my hand, so I am taking that as a lucky omen.

Watercolours and Drawings Fair
Modern Works on Paper
The Royal Academy of Arts
31 January - 3 February

Photographs of framed paintings

Yesterday I collected some of my pictures that have been framed. In the 'flesh' they look really good, framing makes such a difference! Mas particularly liked the butterfly one and wanted to keep it, but unframed he had not given it a second glance. I have painted the butterfly picture as if it was a silk painting, with gold outlining; the frame exactly matches this cool gold colour.
Unfortunately the photos do not do the framing justice, it is hard to get a good representation as the glass reflects everything in natural daylight.

Sark's way of life will change.

The island of Sark is part of the UK, but it has been somewhat independent and has a feudal laws which have had to be approved of by Britain. There is a small parliament; the head of the island is the Seigneur. This way of life has more or less remained the same since Elizabethan times, apart from the German occupation during the last war. It depends largely on tourism for income.

The reclusive billionaire Barclay brothers, (who own The Ritz hotel in London, and the Daily Telegraph,) live on their own island, in a castle, in Sark’s territorial waters. The brothers have bought up a fifth of Sark, including three of the six hotels. They are in conflict with the Seigneur, and have stated that their ultimate goal is the democratic reform of Sark. The Seigneur has called for his own feudal powers to be restricted, but Sark’s parliament has resisted. The Seigneur is popular, and his family have governed the island since 1852.

Last year the European Court of Human Rights bought pressure on the island to change the inheritance and some tax laws. On January the 13th Jack Straw (the British Lord Chancellor) demanded that Sark move to full democracy. On January the 16th the parliament,( the Chief Pleas,) modified some of the laws.

This is some kind of democracy when two extremely rich brothers, living on their own island within a fortress can bring pressure to influence the way of life of Sark, while at the same time buying up the island for their own profit.



















La Coupeé, which joins Big and Little Sark.

Kaffee Fassett, Hampstead sites and lunch with Diane

Yesterday I heard Kaffee Fassett, (the renowned textile designer, knitter, quilter and artist) being interviewed on the radio. He was born in California, but lives here now. When asked what he thinks of British weather he said he really enjoyed it, and when it was dreary and grey outside he looked forward to sitting beside the hearth and knitting, which he can do really fast.

I always feel like knitting in the winter too, I think it must be something to do with the survival instinct. One of these days I will try my hand at one of his lovely bright designs.

I took the tube to Hampstead, and walked down to Belsize Park to meet Diane. On the way I took a few photos.

Flask Walk, Hampstead

Hot crépes!

Moroccan Cafe.

Diane and I met as planned in 'Ask', and had a drink before going back to Hampstead and having a small lunch with some laughs and a long chat in The Flask Pub restaurant before going our separate ways.

Selecting pictures to frame and sociable goings on.

Having decided I could not paint a masterpiece right now, I enlisted Linda Blackstone's help to choose some pictures from those I have already painted, for mounting and framing. Although she was really busy packing up her gallery she took a long time helping me, and she picked exactly the right mount and frame for each picture. She is the artist! I am really looking forward to seeing them once they are done as they will look so much better framed.

Diane came over for dinner which was really nice and we drank the delicious wine she bought, exchanged Christmas gifts, and caught up with what has been going on. Due to one reason or another we had not seen each other for two months which is unusual for us.

Today I had a nice long e-mail from Betty who I also had not heard from lately. For some reason her computer had decided it did not need to work for a while, as they do, but after resting it is back, and standing to attention again.

I went the scenic way to Watford, on the bus, today and got some shopping. Now I must go and cook dinner.

Swimming and The London Art Fair

We managed to go for our first swim this year which made us feel virtuous, but the water in the pool was cold which was a disincentive to stay in for too long. In the evening we went as invited to our neighbours, Glen and Barry for dinner, which made a nice change.

Today we went to the London Art Fair which is held in the Business Design Centre at The Angel. We looked at the displayed art; a lot of it seemed quite underwhelming, but there were some very interesting pieces, and as usual I liked some of Chris Bushe's paintings.

http://www.panterandhall.com/artists/bushe.html

When we left it was beginning to get overcast and dark, but this man was playing haunting Irish folk music in the street, while he was walking a tightrope.

Friends, family and Tommy Cooper

The other day I was walking home and feeling a bit blue, probably just because it is January. To cheer myself up I began making a list of all my family and my friends and people that I have known and loved throughout my life. I reached home about 20 minutes later and had not stopped counting, but I was feeling extremely lucky to be me.

Here are a few of some old Tommy Cooper jokes that Tania and Robert sent me yesterday: ( they liked 9 best, but I liked 2 as it reminded me of silly breakfasts with Mas.)

1. I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn't find any.

2. My friend drowned in a bowl of muesli. A strong currant pulled him in.

3. What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.

4. So I was getting into my car, and this bloke says to me 'Can you give me a lift?'I said 'Sure, you look great, the world's your oyster, go for it.'

5. 'You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen. It said, 'Parking Fine.' So that was nice

6. Two fat blokes in a pub, one says to the other 'Your round.' The other one says 'So are you, you fat bast**d!'

7. A man walked into the doctors, he said, 'I've hurt my arm in several places’ the doctor said, 'Well don't go there anymore'

8. A man takes his Rotteweiller to the vet. 'My dog is cross-eyed, is there anything you can do for him?''Well,' said the vet, 'let's have a look at him' so he picks the dog up and examines his eyes, then he checks his teeth.Finally, he says, 'I'm going to have to put him down.' 'What? Because he's cross-eyed? No, because he's really heavy.

9. Two elephants walk off a cliff...boom, boom!

Socializing, shopping and car maintenance

We have been fairly busy; I have painted two more pictures (but still have not managed to do a significant one) and Mas has been working on his web site. In between we went to St. Albans and had lunch with Tania and Robert in the Thai restaurant, and one evening we were invited to a party by Margaret and John who had prepared a lovely buffet with tempting food for a variety of different tastes, and it was fun seeing friends again.

On Saturday we went to Boreham Wood to get some shopping. We walked past one shop window where an elegant young boy mannequin was dressed in smart but casual clothing with a nice jacket over his shoulders; then he moved! We watched him for a while, saw him arranging his pose and then startling people in various ways. He was probably about 10 years old, but very good at it. I think he must have seen the mime artists that sometimes perform in Leicester Square.

Today we went to Watford where I bought a new swim suit (which I hope I will be able to squeeze into) and had lunch at Yummy, a Chinese restaurant that we eat about once a year, but the owners always remember us. On the way home the sound from the exhaust (or muffler as Mas would say ) meant that we had to replace it immediately. We had a downpour of rain driving home, and I saw another double rainbow.


















Romy relaxing in Belize.

Stanmore churches and W.S Gilbert

Mas and I, feeling somewhat stir crazy, decided to have a pub lunch in Stanmore. After lunch we went for a short walk through Stanmore for a bit of exercise, and because I wanted to look at the church which I had only seen in passing before.

In the church grounds there is a ruin which is securely locked, but a notice says that it can be viewed from April onwards. Being curious about the history of the church I found that there had been several churches on the same site.

The first that is known about was built in the 6th Century by Saxons, after they conquered London. The second church on this site was built in the 14th Century, dedicated to St. Mary.

The third replaced St.Mary's in 1632, and was the first church made of brick in England. It was dedicated to St. John and was consecrated by the Bishop of London,William Laud. After the civil war William Laud, who was then the Archbishop of Canterbury, was put on trial for High Treason because he had consecrated three churches (including this one) and it was considered a papist tradition. He was beheaded at Tower Hill on 10.1.1645.

The present church was built close to the ruin. The foundation stone was laid in the presence of the Dowager Queen Adelaide (married previously to William IV, and aunt to Queen Victoria), who was residing in Bentley Priory at the time. This Anglican church, named St. John the Evangelist was consecrated in 1850.

Sir William Schwenck Gilbert is buried here: Dramatist, librettist, poet, illustrator who worked with Sir Arthur Sullivan to write 14 comic operas.

After this we went home for a cup of tea to get warm again.

Computer problems and infectious smiling

The beginning of the year has been a bit fraught for us. Mas updated the computer security systems which caused problems for days on end. Hopefully things will be better now. I have been urgently trying to paint a masterpiece, but listening to protracted conversations with computer help lines has not proved too inspiring. I have painted two pictures, but they have not worked out as I intended.

On a more cheerful note, Chris sent me this from Switzerland :

Smiling is infectious
You catch it like the flu;
When someone smiled at me today
I started smiling too

I passed around the corner
And someone saw me grin
When I smiled back, I realized
I`d passed it on to him

I thought about that smile
And realized its worth
A single smile, like his or mine
Could travel round the earth

So, if you feel a smile begin
Don`t leave it undetected
Let`s start an epidemic quick
And get the world infected.

New Year's Eve

The last day of the year, and Mas is feeling better, but still with a cough. We went out and got a little shopping then, as we walked along the street, there was a smash and grab incident just in front of us with various people shouting. It transpired that a young man had gone into a small shop and snatched a handbag from a dummy in the window dragging half of it away. Two of them were chased out of sight by a security guard, but I think that only the dummy body was found.
After this we had a pub lunch at The Moon Under Water, just for a change of scene.

We had another quiet evening, but did stay up long enough to see the New Year in, watching TV.

Happy New Year!

Sickness at Christmas.

After we recovered from our trip we caught up with friends and relatives, and got back to doing the usual things in preparation for Christmas. The weather was very cold and frosty, but got warmer as Christmas approached. Peter had asked us if we would like to spend Christmas with him. We wanted to do this, but Mas got increasingly tired until he came down with a virus and became ill, and had an awful cough.

I made a brief foray to Brent Cross shopping centre, which was like a descent into hell ( I hate shopping at the best of times), and finished my Christmas shopping, as usual resolving to do next year's Christmas shopping in February. By this time Mas had lost his voice (unbelievable!), and one of our neighbours visited, and left shocked when he tried to talk to her.

Pete came to stay with us on Christmas Eve, and ominously he was feeling very tired too. In short order he came down with the same kind of illness as Mas. Despite all this illness, we had a cosy time, eating by candlelight and watching TV around the fire. I did get the feeling sometimes that I was running a kind of gourmet hospital, and from time to time, if I thought my throat seemed sore I would sip some neat, strong, rum to sterilise my throat (if it had not been medicinal I would have had a G & T), and it seemed to work. We cheered ourselves up listening to some of the jazz compilations Toby had put together a year or so ago, and the one we kept repeating was the Hi de Hi song by Cab Calloway.

Things continued in this way until Mas began to feel a bit better, and Pete returned home despite still feeling ill, on my birthday, December the 30th. Maheena called in with a present and card,(her son has his birthday on the same day), and later Diane and then Toby phoned telling me of his recent trip to Belize.

Last day in Madeira.

We had an exotic breakfast of unfamiliar fruit, in the apartment; the fruit I enjoyed most was custard apple, and I was pleased to try it as my father had told me about this fruit which was a favourite of his from his childhood in India. I packed, and we did separate things until we had lunch together beside the swimming pool.

Robert and Tania drove us to the airport. On the way we saw a double rainbow, that dipped down into the sea, and when I tried to get a photo of this from the airport the battery in my camera failed. We sadly said goodbye to our friends as they were staying in Madeira for Christmas. Madeira is mentioned in the Guinness book of Records for the New Year firework display, but none of us stay long enough to see it.

Madeira is a beautiful and interesting place, although we only saw a small part of it. Funchal is said to be named after the Fennel plant (Funcho) which covered the area, and while we were in Madeira we saw lots of Poinsettia, Camellia, Bougainvillea, Hibiscus, Hydrangea and Agapanthus flowers. The air where we were staying was filled with the scent of Pine and Eucalyptus, and for the first time I saw banana trees bearing fruit.

Madeira is famous for embroidery, cane work and for wine; there are at least six varieties that are drunk world wide. Shakespeare's plays mention the wine of Madeira; it was also drunk at the inauguration of George Washington and to toast the American Declaration of Independence.

Christoper Columbus is said to have come to Madeira as a sugar trader, then returned a few years later and married the Governor of Porto Santo's daughter by whom he had a son. This was all before he set off for the New World.

The flight home went as planned, except for a period of turbulence when the air filled with unspoken prayers, and I could mentally hear Robert saying "Richard Dawkins wouldn't like it! "
(Robert had been reading his book while we were on holiday.)

Our plane arrived at Stanstead 40 minutes early, but our Minni cab driver was already waiting for us and we were gratefully home in short order, around midnight. It seemed terribly cold, and the house was like an ice box, and took 24 hours to get back to the right temperature. Madeira already seemed like a dream.

Vegetable markets and former palaces.

We went off to Funchal, and Tania, Robert and I went to the market to buy fruit, and look around, and later we met Mas and had a lovely meal in a pavement cafe down a side street.
























Robert had recently sent me a picture of a beautiful fractal vegetable called a Romanche, and we found one in the market.

Here is a stray dog in the market, looking very healthy.

After lunch Mas went off as arranged, and then we went along the harbour for a walk as far as Saõ Tiago Fort which has now become a restaurant and a modern art gallery, and then we walked through the old part of town which seemed very atmospheric. We also looked at the Town Hall which used to be a palace in earlier times, and has a statue of Leda and the Swan in
the courtyard, and that formerly was in the fish market.

Later we went for dinner to the Miradouro restaurant at Cruz da Caldeira. We had a very tasty meal, and found that two of our new friends were there before us and we were pleased to see them. We did have a little difficulty talking as one of the football teams were celebrating, and making whistling noises like fireworks going off, but they were all in good humour, and so were we.

Entrance to the Fort.

.

Swimming and relaxing.

We all had breakfast in the restaurant, then Mas and I decided to swim in the pool together. We felt the temperature of the water the day before and it seemed very warm. The pool is half indoors, and half outside, separated by a large window which is raised, and very attractive.

We got into the pool, which by this time was very cold, and we swam around for a while before going into the jacuzzi beside the pool. From there we went into the sauna and really warmed up. We all occupied ourselves differently for a while, and I went for a short walk.

This is the view from the stairs to the apartment. The yellow flowers are known locally as Popcorn.

Cable car to Monte palace tropical garden.

The weather was bright and sunny and we took the cable car from Funchal to Monte. The views from the cable car were interesting as we were passing over the houses in the valley and up the mountain side. When we got out we went to see the exhibition of modern African sculpture, then saw a beautiful mineral collection, spending some time admiring the crystal collection and the natural way they had been exhibited.

Next we went into Monte Palace Tropical Garden and walked down and up the huge garden which used Japanese and Chinese artifacts in its construction, as well as tropical plants. Once we

left the garden we had a drink before descending in the cable car and returning to our apartment.